By Tara Kyle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Celebrity chef Mario Batali, sued in July by former employees of Babbo, is now in trouble with workers at his Chelsea restaurant Del Posto, the Wall Street Journal reported.
More than two dozen past and present employees at Del Posto filed a suit in Federal Court Tuesday claiming that they are owed tips, plus service changes from banquets, according to the Journal.
Before distributing tips, management at Del Posto allegedly removed close to ten percent of wine sales from the pot, the Journal reported. At banquets, the suit alleges workers were paid flat rates and denied other gratuities.
One former Del Posto employee, waiter Freddy Richards, told the Journal that fear prevented workers from complaining about tip deprivation.
"The industry, the restaurant industry, they make a lot of money," Richards said to the Journal. "So why don't you treat your workers, those are the people who are going to make your business successful, fair?"
Batali declined to comment to the newspaper.